Engine starting device



Nov. 12, 1963 J, E JR 3,110,422

ENGINE STARTING DEVICE Filed June '27, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Hal.

INVENTOR. EARL J. BEcK JR ATTORNEY Nov. 12, 1963 E. J. BECK, JR3,110,422

ENGINE STARTING DEVICE Filed June 27, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 4 a 4/ 4,y if 60 I l 6/ 22 fo 5 6 i I 2 f9 5 59 2'3; if 4 Q4 as 62 56 f as; l 424 l 6 r i 30 F I e. 5.

INVENTOR. EARL J. BECK JR.

A TTORNEY United States Patent 3,110,422 ENGINE STARTING DEVICE Earl J.Beck, In, Oxnard, Califl, assignor to the United States of America asrepresented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed June 27, 1960, Ser. No.39,197 1 Claim. (Cl. 222-835) (Granted under Title 35, U.S. Code (1952),sec. 266) The invent-ion described herein may be manufactured and usedby or for the Government of the United States of America forgovernmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon ortherefor.

This invention relates generally to the starting of internal combustionengines in cold weather and is particularly related to new andadvantageous means for discharging special starting fluids into theengine.

It is commonly known that the starting of internal combustion enginesbecomes more diflicult to accomplish as the temperature of the engineand the surrounding atmosphere becomes lower and that eventually atemperature is reached at which the engine will refuse to start unlessauxiliary starting aids are employed.

It has been proposed heretofore to start a cold engine with a primingfuel which would also be used to keep it running until the engine warmedup sufiiciently so that it would operate on its ordinary fuel. Suchpriming fuels, which may comprise combinations of ether or etherderivatives and low viscosity lubricants, are by nature very volatileand readily inflammable at ordinary temperatures. The vapors from suchpriming t els will form explosive mixtures when they reach a certainconcentration in air. This explosive concentration may be accomplishedrapidly and accidentally especially when the fluid is handled in an opencontainer or is poured from a container into an auxiliary apparatussituated on or near the engine being started.

In order to obviate the dangers associated with the handling of suchpriming fuels from open containers, it has been the practice to furnishthe same in small sealed bulbs or cartridges which may be inserted intoanother auxiliary type of apparatus mounted on or near the engine. Suchprior auxiliary apparatus, however, has had various disadvantages inthat they were either difficult, or impossible, to manipulate with heavygloves in extremely cold atmospheres as found in Arctic and Antarcticlocations and had no positive means of ejecting the spent bulb orcartridge. This last disadvantage was found particularly trying where itwas necessary to use a number of bulbs in quick succession to start andmaintain the engine in a running condition until it had reached a morenormal operating temperature. Manifolding a number of similardischargers did not adequately solve the problem as the difiiculty ofmanipulation remained and the complexity and expense of the installationrapidly increased beyond its expected return.

The object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a single enginestarting device or priming fuel bulb discharger which is capable ofeffective and rapid manipulation in extremely cold weather.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a device ordischarger as will be adapted to readily receive and rapidly ejectpriming fuel bulbs or cartridges whereby a rapid succession of suchbulbs may be inserted, discharged, and removed as may be necessary tostart and maintain the running of the engine for any desired period oftime.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be appreciated inview of the following detailed description and the appended drawingswherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation schematically showing the use of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation, partly in cross-section, of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation in cross section taken on the line 4-4 ofFIG. 3, illustrating one mode of operation of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a similar view showing another mode of operation; and

FIGS. 6-11, inclusive, illustrate various details of the invention.

With reference to FIG. 1, the engine starter device or bulb discharger25) is shown as being attached to the operators side of a firewall orinstrument panel 22. A tube or conduit 24- leads to the manifold sectionof an internal combustion engine 26. A nozzle 28 projecting into themanifold section is usually provided for introducing the priming fuelinto the engine, usually in the form of a spray. This nozzle may be ofany standard configuration to fit the tube employed and forms no part ofthe invention.

With reference to the other figures, the engine starting device or bulbdischarger comprises a body 30, a bulb or cartridge holder 40, an armassembly 50, a bulb or cartridge discharger assembly 69, a supportingbracket 70, a tube connector fitting 7-5, and a priming fuel bulb orcartridge 8%.

The fuel bulb or cartridge is of a standard form which may be obtainedcommercially. It comprises a dra-Wn steel bulb similar to those employedto package charges of CO gas under pressure. Such bulbs comprise agenerally cylindrical body portion 81 closed in a unitary manner at oneend and necked down at the other end to form an opening 82 of reducedsize. When the bulb is filled with its contents of pressurized primingfuels, the opening is effectively sealed against leakage by a perforableclosure 83. A protruding rim or circlet $4 is usually formed in thecylindrical body portion 81 in order to easily distinguish these primingfuel cartridges from the CO cartridges previously mentioned. While thesebulbs, per se, form no part of the invention, the rim or circlet 84 isof importance to the further working of the invention. To this extent,it may be said that the invention, in its present embodiment, is limitedto the use of this type of bulb.

The body 30 may be generally cylindrical in shape and is provided with areduced diameter, threaded portion 31 on which is threaded a large nut32. As will be more fully explained later, this reduced portion 31 andnut 32 are used to secure the invention to its support bracket 7 0. Thebody 31 is further provided with a large central longitudinal bore 33and a concentric smaller diameter threaded bore 34. Bore 33 is of asufficient size to snugly receive bulb holder 40 and the use of threadedbore 34- will be explained later. The body 30 is also provided with twodiametrically aligned transverse bores 35 which are adapted to receivethe axle components 55 of the arm assembly 50.

Bulb holder 4%) is generally cylindrical in shape and is provided with acentral bore 41 of a size sufficient to snugly accept the bulb 80. Justbelow the upper extremity of bulb holder 40, a radial groove 42 isturned or formed in the upper portion of bore 41. This groove isfurnished for the reception of bulb rim 84 and, as will be explainedlater, furnishes the means to force the bulb 80 downwardly in the fueldischarging operation and then to force it upwardly into position forremoval.

As shown best in FIGS. 6, 7, and 8, holder 40 is cut away at one side asat 43 and bore 41 is opened outwardly at at 44, thus making possible andfacilitating the insertion of the bulb 80 into the holder 40. Holder 46is further provided with transverse external slots 45 which cooperatewith the eccentric portions 56 of the arm assembly 50 to move bulbholder 49 in the vertical direction as the eccentric portion 56 iscaused to rotate about the axis of the axle components 55.

Arm assembly 50 comprises two arms 57, a handle 58, and two crankportions 59. This latter part consists of a short shank 54, an axlecomponent 55 concentric with shank 54, and an eccentric portion 56.Shank 54 is forced or otherwise secured as by silver-soldering into thehole provided in the upper end of arm 57. As shown, the two cranks areassembled with their respective arms in alignment, particularly withrespect to the eccentric portions. The lower ends of arms 57 areprovided with transverse bores to accept the screws 53 which secure thehandle 58 between the two arms. Thus, using the transverse bores 35 inthe body 30 as a fulcrum, as the crank portions are rotated by the arms,the holder 49 is lowered and raised.

The bulb discharger assembly 68 comprises a cylindrical support section61, a needle holder assembly 62 a cylindrical gasket 63, and a collar64.

Cylindrical support section 61 is of a size to slidably fit within bore41 of the bulb holder 46. It has a reduceddiameter threaded lowerportion 65 which threads into the upper portion of threaded bore 34 inbody 30. Being secured in bore 34, it will be observed that thiscylindrical section 61 serves as a guide for the up and down movement ofbulb holder 40. Support section 61 is provided with a stepped andthreaded bore 66 for receiving the threaded needle holder assembly 62,gasket 63, and threaded collar 64, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Needleholder assembly 62 is threadedly held in place in the bore 66 whilehollow cylindrical gasket 63 is pressed down on top of the needle holderby the threaded collar 64.

As shown in FIG. 9, needle holder 62 comprises a cup shaped cylindricalthreaded section 67, a threaded needleholding insert 47, a ball checkvalve and spring 49 and a cup shaped screening member 51. Threadedsection 67 has a reduced diameter lower portion 68 and external threads69. Threads 69 are used for securing the needle holder assembly 62 intothe lower threaded bore 66 of cylindrical support section 61. Thescreening member 51 may be force-fitted to the reduced diameter portion68. Threaded section 67 is further provided with a stepped bore havingan upper threaded portion 39 and a lower reduced diameter smooth bore46.

The threaded needle holding insert 47 screws into the threaded bore 45until its enlarged head 48 engages the upper surface of the cup shapedsection 67. Insert 47 is provided with a central bore having an upperthreaded section 52 and a lower reduced diameter smooth bore 36. Hollowneedle 37 is threadedly inserted in upper threaded bore 52 as shown. Theball check valve and spring 49 are held in bore 52 under the needle 37.The bore or orifice of the needle is provided with a chamfer at itslower end for the reception of the ball. The spring is of a sufficientsize and tension to maintain the ball in this chamfer and effectivelyclosing the needle orifice for the backward escape of the vapors fromthe priming fuel being forced therethrough.

As shown in FIG. 4, tube connector fitting 75 is threadedly inserted inthe lower portion of threaded bore 34 of the body 30. This fitting maybe of the usual standard banjo type and serves to connect bore 34 withtubing 24.

Support bracket 70 may be made from angle material and has vertical andhorizontal legs. The vertical leg is provided with holes 71 for thereception of cap screws 72 which are used to fix the bracket to thefirewall or instrument panel 22. The horizontal leg is provided with alarge hole of sufiicient diameter to accept the threaded 4 portion 31 ofthe body 3%). Nut 32 may then be used to hold body 36 securely on thesupport bracket 70.

FIG. 10, which is taken on the line 1916 of FIG. 4, more clearlyillustrates the configuration of the crank portions 59 which are securedto the upper ends of arms 57.

The operation of the invention may now be described with reference toFIGS. 2 to 5, inclusive. With the arm assembly 50 in the lower verticalpositon as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the bulb holder 40 is in itsraised vertical position and the bulb or cartridge 30 may be easilyinserted therein. The neck of the bulb is centered with respect to thegasket 63 and collar 64 and the bulb is pushed downwardly by hand untilthe rim 84 is aligned with and in the groove 42. Arms 57 are then raisedforwardly and upwardly by means of handle 58 until they are disposedvertically as shown in FIG. 5. During this movement of the arms, thecranks 59 have turned 180 and the eccentrics 56, working in the bulbholder slots 45, have forced the bulb and bulb holder downwardly, firstforcing the neck of the bulb 86 into the gasket 63 whereby the chamberadjacent to the needle is sealed and then secondly, impaling the bulb onthe needle 37. The contents of the pressurized priming fuel bulb arethen forcibly ejected down through the needle holder assembly, past thecheck valve, into the tubing 24 and through the nozzle 28 into themanifold of the engine 26.

In the event a fresh charge of priming fuel is immediately necessary,the arms 57 are moved forwardly and downwardly and due to the eccentricaction of the cranks 59 in slots 45, the bulb holder is forced upwardly,forcibly and positively removing the spent bulb from the needle 37. Ifthe contents of the engine manifold and tubing 24 have not been fullydischarged and these parts contain vaporized fuel, the ball check valve49 acts to prevent their outflow from the improved discharger into theengine or other operating compartments, With the spent bulb extendedupwardly off the needle, it can be easily and quickly removed andreplaced with a fresh bulb.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has thus been describedand illustrated, I do not intend to be limited thereby. Manymodifications may suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. If theform of the priming fuel bulb should be changed, for instance, suchchanges would necessitate certain modifications to the bulb holder forgripping the bulb, transferring its contents to the working cylinders,and then forcibly and positively ejecting the bulb to a position fromwhere it may easily be removed by the mittened hand of the operator.

Having thus described and illustrated my improved engine starting deviceor priming fuel cartridge discharger, I claim:

Apparatus for discharging pressurized priming fuel into an internalcombustion engine comprising, in combination:

a cylindrical priming fuel cartridge having a generally cylindricalmajor body portion, a first rounded unitary end, a second necked downcylindrical portion closed with a perforable seal at the other end, andan external circular rim substantially centrally disposed on said majorbody portion with respect to said first and second ends;

a stationary supporting body;

a reciprocable holder means supported in said station ary body forlaterally receiving and retaining a substantial portion of said fuelcartridge including said circular rim;

means for locking said fuel cartridge in said holder means with respectto the axis of the reciprocating motion of said holder means and withthe first rounded unitary end of said fuel cartridge exposed to view andmanual manipulation of said fuel cartridge; means in said holder meansfor facilitating the lateral insertion and removal of said fuelcartridge with re spect to said holder means;

a conduited hollow needle supported by said stationary body forperforating the perforable seal at the said second end of said fuelcartridge and conducting said priming fuel from said cartridge to apoint of use; and

means for reciprocating said holder means and said holder means retainedfuel cartridge with respect to said stationary body and said hollowneedie cornprising a pair of cranks diametrically journalled in thesides of said body, said cranks having eccentric members cooperatingwith transverse slots in the sides of said holder whereby as said cranksare moved 180 said holder will reciprocate in said body from a limitingposition in one direction to another limitin g position in the otherdirection.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS ReadMar. 18, 1913 Read May 4, 1915 Parkes Dec. 7, 1915 Ward Dec. 14, 1943Metszer Apr. 15, 1952 I Ward Ian. 19, 1947 Neely May 24, 1955 Neely Jan.10, 1956 Neely Oct. 28, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Nov. 3, 1911

